Camp Mommy: Letter Scavenger Hunt

This week our camp mommy was guided a little bit around learning as well as a lot of fun. We had a letter scavenger hunt in our yard (and it cost us less than $5 - the letters and chalk were from Dollarama). Bug loves finding things once they've been hidden, so that's where this activity stemmed from. First I went outside and wrote his name in big letters with chalk on our sidewalk. Then, once all the letters were hidden in our yard, and everything was set up, Bug came out and went searching. Each letter he found, he had to come and match it with one of the letters in his name. We first discussed the letter quickly, making sure he knew what it was; then placed it on the corresponding chalk letter. Once all of the pieces were found, we practiced spelling his name and getting him used to seeing what his name looked like. After the first time, Bug wasn't done, so he proceeded to "hide" all the letters again and self directed the activity multiple times. Bear was once again on supervising duty, eating his baby mash! Check out the video with Bug in action!

After we were done with his name, I took out the letters A through F, hid them around the yard and wrote the letters on the sidewalk (giving each letter their own cement panel). Bug became the explorer again and went hunting for the new letters. Each letter he found, I got him to bring it over to the corresponding cement panel and place it on the chalk letter. Then we discussed that letter and spoke about words that started with it. Bug loves watching me draw animals, vehicles, etc; so a few of the words we came up with got an "amazing" artist rendition :) Bear sat once again watching the fun unfold, playing with his own letters.

Today had an unfortunate beginning...I found out on my way home from my last night shift this set that a very dear friend of mine, whom became affectionately known as Momma 2 for me and Gramma C to my kids, passed away. She had a short but courageous battle with lung cancer, and thankfully passed peacefully in her sleep. I had been expecting this news, given my career and her initial prognosis; however, nothing can prepare you for the heartache you feel. I was debating doing Camp Mommy today; however, I only have 2 days off this set, and I wasn't sure if the weather would hold up tomorrow (I'm really trying to keep our Camp Mommy activities for outside). Actually, the weather around 1 PM, during my indecision, wasn't great at the tail end of a thunderstorm. Then the clouds cleared up and the sun was shining, and I thought that Momma 2 wouldn't want me to be holed up inside with my grief. So I basked in the joys of my beautiful boys, went outside and enjoyed our activity. She always told me how proud of me she was for the mother I had become, and how beautifully I fell into this role.  We dedicated this day to this amazing woman, spending a little bit of time reminiscing and speaking of her when we got to the letter B. Butterflies were her absolute favourite, purple ones all that much better. So we drew a purple butterfly and told her we loved her, being thankful that she was no longer suffering. We love you so much dear friend!

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My Bear turns One!!

It's so hard to believe that my baby boy is now one! This past year has gone by so fast...in all honesty, even the pregnancy with Bear went by so fast. Probably because I couldn't just focus on him, as Bug kept us busy throughout the day. But here we are, celebrating the little man that made us the VDV four. He is quite possibly the best baby out there. Happy and content, he just observes and smiles most of the time. He's such an easy going fella, I'm pretty excited to see how he will be once he really starts chatting and becoming active. Bug and Bear, at this point are amazing together. Bug loves his baby brother so much, and is constantly giving him hugs and kisses...and always, and I do mean ALWAYS, wants to make him laugh. It's so cute to watch the two of them interact now, especially with Bear now engaging more with everyone. We had his party this past weekend, but today it was just some family getting together to rejoice in this little man who has brought so much joy and love into our lives! As a mom, I couldn't be happier. It's a bit bittersweet with him entering his toddler years, as my husband and I are done having children. So, knowing that I won't experience pregnancy and newborn chaos again makes me a little sad. But my boys are amazing and watching Bug become this awesome toddler makes me that much more thrilled to watch Bear toddle through these next incredible years. Happy birthday my little love!! We love you to the moon and back!

Bug really wanted to get Bear a dinosaur for his birthday. So I thought of a way to make it a little bit more personal, that Bear can keep with him over the next few years. I roughly...and I do mean roughly - without a pattern, made a dinosaur out of white muslin fabric. Before I stitched him up, I got Bug to color him with fabric markers. I really wanted to make the dinosaur look kid like, more of a kid drawing of a dinosaur. Bug at this point can't draw objects too well, so I had to use my imagination on how it would look. He's so ugly, he's cute!!

Camp Mommy: the first three weeks.

Due to the fact that we loved our advent activities so much during this past holiday season, and I have been missing the activities with the boys since I've been back to work post maternity leave; I decided I would plan a day on one of my days off each set for some fun. A lot of my inspiration comes from ideas I have seen online (especially Pinterest), but they also come from my frequent visits to Michaels, Chapters, Toys R Us, Walmart or Dollarama. If I see something that I can incorporate into some play time with Bug, Bear and some of their friends, I include that in the list of ideas I have already planned. Most of these items aren't too expensive, but the imagination and creativity we use during these activities is what makes these days worth so much more!

Our first activity was painting a bird feeder. We got our bird feeder from Michaels, and with the 40% coupon, it was at most $5.00. We then had to purchase some bird feed, but the bag you can purchase ranges from pretty cheap to about $20. We bought the larger bag so we wouldn't run out any time soon. I gave Bug a paint brush and let him have at it with the paint. I ended up helping him near the end as it ended up being a time consuming project for his attention span; but on the most part he completed it himself. I tried to copy how he was painting, and I loved how it turned out...just a mosaic of bright colors. I then purchased some sealant from Michaels to protect it against the weather. We got Daddy to help hang it!

Our second activity was planting flowers. A little educational with teaching him how plants grow and that they needed to be watered and shown some TLC everyday. We ended up putting some pea seeds in a Ziploc bag to tape to the window so he could actually see the seeds start germinating and forming roots. Once those were ready to transfer to a pot (about a week), Bug helped me plant them so they could go outside. He's a little bit of a scaredy cat for those who know my child...so I'm sure it's no surprise to some that he was a bit unsettled when he saw the gangly roots....hahaha....oh dear! Bear is obviously a bit too young for a large portion of our activities, but he does like to supervise; especially when food is involved!

Our third and most recent activity was done with one of Bug's buddies. I'm loving this age he is in right now, where he loves to spend time with his friends and asks to see them. They are close in age, so we thought it would be fun to involve him with this event. A couple of nights before this day, I took some tiny dinosaur figures and made dinosaur eggs (just baking soda, black food coloring and a little bit of water to make it a paste). You have to let them sit at least 24 hours, better if it's 48 hours so they dry out. The day I decided to bring this activity to light, I hid them around our yard and got the boys to wear their dinosaur exploring hats ($1.00 each at Dollarama). I made some nests out of towels, and soaked the bottoms a bit with vinegar (to help the breakdown process of the baking soda). Once they collected the eggs, they placed them into the nests and placed a vinegar soaked cloth over top of them. I explained that eggs needed to incubate and stay warm to hatch, so over the next few minutes we would take a quick peek to see what was happening. After about 5 minutes, I told the boys they could start helping the dinosaurs hatch and they easily broke the baking soda apart. The baby dinos then needed a bath so we placed them in a bowl with water...they had fun with this too, splashing as if they were in the tub themselves. As a side note, when you make the "eggs" and get the boys to help them hatch, I would suggest wearing gloves, and especially for the boys, have them wear clothes you don't care to get ruined. My hands looked like I was turning into the kid from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that turned into a blueberry! I swear by Oxyclean, so if there is some staining to clothes, it comes out easily with that wonderful laundry product (the spray kind). I would definitely use towels that you don't mind getting ruined.

My list for this summer of Camp Mommy days is becoming quite long, so I'm sure these will lead into the fall. I, too share in the excitement with Bug for these days...it's so fun to see his imagination run wild! 

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Christmas 2012 Advent List

Alright...here is the VDV advent activity list from Christmas 2012 that many friends have asked about. I realize it's not even remotely close to this coming Christmas, but I probably will forget to post this during the 2013 holiday season. So I will post it now, and then link back to it during posts closer to December 1st.

A quick description of what we did before I get into the list. Each day, Bug (this year Bear will be included) received a candy cane, a sticker to put on a laminated Christmas countdown (so I can reuse it each year) and an activity written on some Christmas paper that we would perform that day. The activity must be completed while wearing Christmas hats...just to add to the festive environment. Bug loved it!

The list:

1. Decorate our Christmas Tree
2. Write a letter to Santa: Bug was too young this past Christmas to obviously write a letter, but he loved talking on the phone. We got him to "talk" to Santa and I wrote down everything he said to compose his letter. He also wanted to color a picture for Santa, so that was included. We then left it with his Elf on the Shelf, Francis to take back to Santa that night.
3. Baking Christmas cupcakes: I bought a kid apron from Michaels and decorated it with fabric paint so it was a special "Mommy's Christmas Helper" apron he only wore when doing our Christmas baking.

4. Salt dough Ornaments (handprints)
5. Decorating Bug's room with Christmas lights

6. Color Christmas pictures: many resources online for free Christmas coloring pages.
7. Cut snowflakes: Bug was so impressed with how the paper turned out after all the folds and cuts!
8. Sledding
9. Reindeer handprint

10. Sugar cookie baking and decorating
11. Painting the snow with colored water in water guns

12. Christmas bowling: this was so easy, super cheap and Bug loved it. He was actually pretty sick this day, but he had enough energy to do his advent activity. I just bought some Christmas shaped erasers from Dollarama, and he had a little ball. We set up the erasers (9 for $1.00) in a bowling pin pattern, and got him to "bowl".

13. Gingerbread men decorating
14. Puzzle snowflake ornament

15. Skating
16. Visit Santa
17. Baking shortbread
18. Snowman basketball

19. Making a snowglobe
20. You've Been Jingled: We made 3 gift bags for 3 neighbours, and then left them at their doors for a Christmas surprise. I made a special ornament to accompany this package so the neighbours had something to remember this act every year they decorate their trees! I really want to teach our boys that Christmas is more about the spirit of giving, rather than receiving; so next year we are going to add 2 more "giving" advents.

21. Snowman Hot "Chocolate" bath: after shoveling the snow, or playing outside, we came inside to have hot chocolate. I decorated the little marshmallows with snowman faces before we put them in the hot chocolate.

22. Waffle cone tree decorating

23. Christmas Rice Krispies
24. Hide and Seek with Francis, our Elf on the Shelf: This was done near the end of the day, where we got Bug to go to his room while Francis hid around the house. Bug would then run out and try to find him. We did it 4 times, and the last time, Francis had a letter waiting, telling Bug that he had to go back to the North Pole to help Santa get ready for Christmas the next day. He left him and Bear a little parcel (another one of our family traditions), which had new pajamas for the boys, a Christmas movie and a Christmas book (we watched and read that night).

25. Open  presents!

There you have it. Many were done with pretty cheap items, or things we had around the house. It didn't cost us a lot, but the joy and excitement Bug had shown each day was priceless. So excited to do this again, especially with two little men to participate!

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Hello Everyone!

For those of you who are reading this, this is my first blog so please bear with me. Ever since Christmas 2012, with my daily advent activities, I have had a few inquiries about people thinking I should start a blog for people to follow and get ideas for their kids. With that being said, this is in no way started to toot my own horn, and make any other parent feel inadequate. I plan activities for my kids, because there ARE days where I am NOT as much of an attentive parent as I should be. I am not a perfect parent; I yell, discipline inappropriately and maintain selfish behaviours that aren’t always conducive to raising your children in the best way you can. I let my kids at times watch TV so I can have a few minutes of quiet, I go hide for 15 minutes in another room so I can maintain some form of sanity with my children running around screaming…and don’t get me started on housework. I’d like to say that most times my house is unkempt is because I’m doing activities, crafts, etc with my children (which I am a lot of the time), but some times it’s because I’m far too lazy to spend 20 minutes vacuuming. We also have a dishwasher…so you’d think that dishes shouldn’t pile up in the sink…well my friends, that is entirely NOT the case in our house. So with that all being said, the activities I plan for my children are to make up for the times that I am not the perfect mother; to help ensure that my children have a happy and thriving childhood amongst the throes of everyday chaotic life.

A little bit of VDV information. We are a family of 4, with our oldest “Bug” turning 4 in July and our youngest “Bear” who has just turned 1. Up until my last maternity leave, I didn’t put a lot of effort into activities with my child (Bug at the time). We kind of just did everyday activities, letting him play amongst his toys while I maintained some semblance of “me” time. It wasn’t until our youngest was born, and we really got into the fun age of having a toddler at home where I really put forth the effort of planning activities. They can range anywhere from picnics, going to the park, playing in the pool to activities that require a little more planning such as zoo trips, play dates and craft days. I’m a very crafty person, so a lot of my go to activities I plan are related to painting or any other kid friendly craft. Where I really got into planning fun events for my children was this past Christmas (2012), where I made an advent Calendar which had daily Christmas endeavors rather than just a candy. It was so fun, that when the last of our activities during the season came, it was a bit bittersweet. Bug (Bear was only 7 months at the time so his involvement was limited), looked forward to these every morning…and most of them weren’t really extravagant. In this blog I will have a list of our advent fun we did this past year.

What really got me thinking of continuing activities throughout the year were the numerous comments I got from parents stating that “it was such a great idea, but I won’t be able to do it for Christmas 2013 because I’ll be at work”. Now don’t get me wrong, I in no way feel that these comments were meant to be malicious or vindictive…I think they were more of a way of feeling better about themselves for not doing these activities with their kids because they were at work. I’m not one to say, nor am I saying that I’m a better parent because I did do these activities…I would never try to compare how I am as a parent to how another person is. I just know that what I plan with my kids, and making sure I plan these activities with my kids…it is making ME the best parent I CAN be. We all are different, and what makes you the best parent you can be is different than what it is for me. But those comments made me realize that my work will NOT be an excuse for not doing things with my kids. It is difficult…regardless of my shift work, vs. your Monday to Friday job, vs. a stay at home mom’s schedule. We have so much on our plate as parents, so it is easy for our days to slip us by. This past maternity leave has flown by so quickly, and it’s just been this huge reminder of how small our time is with our children at this age…where everything is new, everything creates this type of awe and excitement, and every moment they want to share with us. So, as much as I would love to put a standstill to this time and get more moments with my kids in this AWESOME age; I realize that can’t be done so I’m going to enjoy every moment I can. I’m going to enjoy the late night wake up calls where my boy(s) want to cuddle. I’m going to enjoy the daily interruptions where they want to show me something (that I’ve probably seen 5 times already). I’m just going to enjoy THEM. Of course this will come with curses, screaming matches, lost hair from constant pulling (from me…haha) and dark circles under my eyes; and I hope no one out there honestly feels like I don’t ever find being a parent challenging. To me though, it’s the best kind of challenge out there!

PS. If you really make notice of the constant word throughout this post…it is PLAN. A lot of my ideas have started with a thought during my work day or right before I go to bed and my mind is still running a mile a minute. I have a little notebook, or I type a quick note in my smart phone of the activity I’d like to do, and PLAN a day on my days off to play with my kids. So not only am I GOING to do my advent activities this next Christmas (which have already been planned out), we will be having a Camp Mommy day on one of my days off, each set off. I really hope that I can be an inspiration to mommies (and daddies) out there…not to compare each other as parents, but to help each other realize we can take a little bit of time away from activities around the house to plan things with our kids…I mean really, dishes can wait (even if you have a dishwasher)…right?! Hehe.